GOLF EUROPEAN OPEN:THERE'S ALWAYS a flip side, something positive to take from a negative.
Yesterday, Ross Fisher's audacious first round of 63 in the European Open at the London Club was a source of intimidation for many of those handed a late tee-time; for others, and specifically Graeme McDowell, it simply provided proof that there was a way to conquer this undulating lay-out that marries links characteristics with some devilish parkland traits, including a preponderance of water hazards.
The ink was long dry on Fisher's course record when McDowell set out. By day's end, Fisher - a 27-year-old Englishman who took the unusual step of playing the course blind, not having played a practice round - still led, but he only had to look over his shoulder at those in close pursuit to realise the race was just one-quarter run.
In shooting a 65, seven under, McDowell, who won the Ballentines championship in Korea in March, and who has set making the Ryder Cup team his primary goal for the year, emerged, along with veteran South African David Frost, as Fisher's closest pursuer.
McDowell required just 24 miserly putts in his round, one of them from 50 feet on the 11th, in a round that featured an eagle, six birdies and a lone bogey (on the 14th, when his threeball was on the clock for slow play).
All in all, a good day's work; and, later, McDowell revealed he felt his game was in as good a shape as it has ever been.
Still, as he walked down the fourth fairway yesterday with Sergio Garcia, McDowell had wondered aloud how Fisher had managed to shoot a 63, and Garcia had concurred.
"We were scratching our heads trying to work out where that nine-under had come from in a wind that was blustery, quite strong and flicking about, and thought nobody would come close," recalled McDowell.
Five holes later, after a run of birdie-par-par-eagle-birdie, the 28-year-old Ulsterman had reappraised that wonderment. He, like Fisher, had found the zone.
Although McDowell has recorded just two top-10s in nine outings since that win in Korea, he had planned a schedule that would take him into the meat of the season - now - and, feeling fresh and fit, he remarked: "I've probably never really felt this good about my game. My technique is improving as the years are going on. I'm back on the right path again, getting myself back up in the world rankings, and playing the kind of golf I know I can play. I'm content to keep on improving, that's the key to the game, really."
One other thing McDowell has done is to let the Ryder Cup take care of itself. Instead of devouring the statistics and the permutations on a Sunday night, he has decided to let his results take him wherever they take him.
"I'm trying to take the emphasis off the Ryder Cup, because the five-iron I'm hitting today on 17 is what matters in the big picture. I'm not really looking beyond the Sunday of the European Open right now, so all I can do is stay in the present and try to play my own game."
He added: "I'm still going to give it my best shot (to make the Ryder Cup team). If I get picked, I get picked and if I don't, I don't. I'm still having a great year and am going in the right direction and am very happy with the things I'm doing."
Yesterday, McDowell outshot Garcia by six shots to provide a snapshot of what he can do.
There was much to admire about McDowell's play, from the eagle on the eighth - where he hit a drive and six-iron approach to 20 feet - to the hat-trick of birdies from the 11th. And when he did drop a shot on the 14th, when he rushed his approach after his group were put on the clock, McDowell's response was a birdie on the 15th.
Fisher, the man he has in his sights, defied all golfing logic. Not so much because of the score he shot, rather that he did it playing the course for the first time.
After coming through international qualifying for the British Open at Sunningdale on Monday, Fisher felt drained and decided to miss out on any practice rounds here. Instead, he dispatched his caddie, Adam Marrow, to run the rule over the course . . . and the result was a round that produced 10 birdies and a bogey.
In a remarkable finish, Fisher - who started on the 10th - produced a sequence of six birdies from the fourth. His adrenalin rush was so strong on the ninth, his finishing hole, that the tee-shot finished just 20 yards from the green. It was a drive of 428 yards, prompting one spectator standing by the tee to remark, "It's sick when somebody hits it that far".
Not that Fisher minded being at the end of such envy.
"It's probably the best score I've ever done.
"Being in contention and winning, that's what we all are trying to achieve. That's why we turn up every week. I'm no different. It's probably the best, most solid round of golf I've played."
When Fisher finished his round, he had a gap of five shots over the nearest player. By the end of the day, by which time 45 players had found a way to better par, he led by only two shots.
